Plymouth man shocked' at allegations of molestation,testifies on own behalf

COURTHOUSE — Before a jury of his peers, Plymouth’s Francis Bottorff testified that he was shocked to learn of the allegations of sexual misconduct that were lodged against him, during day two of his Tuesday.

The “bathing suit game” and the “tickle game” he played with his relatives were all in good fun, he said.

“It was a rough game, but nothing, I thought, of a sexual nature.”

The 78-year-old Plymouth man is charged with indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of a minor. The alleged victim, who is now 19 years old, has accused Bottorff of molesting her in hot tubs and pools, on couches and sometimes under blankets when she was 10 and 11.

When the victim called Bottorff on the phone one day when he was in Starbucks, he testified, she was very upset and informed him that she had been doing poorly in school, was depressed and had even tried hurting herself. Bottorff said that was when she confronted him, almost eight years after the alleged molestation.

“I was sorry she was feeling so badly. I didn’t want to make her feel any worse,” he said.

In the recorded phone conversation played in court Tuesday, Bottorff said of the playtime, “Some of it, in retrospect, may have been inappropriate.”

Under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Colgan, Bottorff said he never put his hand on the victim’s vagina.

“If there was any contact, it was incidental,” he said.

“Did you molest her in any way?” asked Colgan.

“No. Absolutely not,” said Bottorff. “I have no idea why she would say these things.”

Peppered with questions by Colgan and his attorney, Tim Woodward, Bottorff repeatedly denied ever touching the young victim inappropriately, putting his hands under her waistband or kissing her on the lips.

The defense rested its case Tuesday afternoon after attorneys told the judge they had planned to call four character witnesses.

Bottorff’s wife, Mary, testified that she and her husband have been married for 56 years. They have three children and many grandchildren.

“I thought we were one big, happy family,” she said. “He treated them wonderfully. I saw no problem.”

She told the jury she has never questioned her husband’s behavior with children and that the accusations were unfounded. She also testified the Bottorffs had a large family that often spent summers in Ocean City, N.J., where much of the alleged misbehavior took place.

“There would be 30 or 40 of us at the beach,” she said. “Frank was in the best shape, so he would be in the pool with the kids. Nobody objected to the games that were played.”

Montgomery County Detective Mary Anders of the Major Crimes Unit, who also took the stand, testified that on the day she and fellow officers arrested Bottorff, they searched his computer for child pornography, child erotica or child abuse, with zero results.